Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2016 to Question 23325, how many local authorities received advice from her Department on Education, Health and Care plans that were considered to be non-compliant with statutory requirements in 2015.

    Edward Timpson

    Since September 2014, Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans have been regularly monitored and reviewed. This is part of the Department’s ongoing work to support and challenge local authorities’ implementation of the reforms to the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) system. The Department also gathers information about EHC plans from parents and young people, through termly surveys of Parent Carer Forums, correspondence, and regular dialogue with parents’ and young people’s groups.

    Where individual EHC plans are considered not to be fully compliant, advice on how to improve them has been provided directly to the local authorities concerned by the Department’s team of SEND advisors. Thus far, our SEND advisors have noted issues around non-compliance for 29 local authorities, all of which were subsequently given advice about improving their EHC plans in order to fulfil statutory requirements

    Our advisors are currently delivering a number of workshops for local authorities on how to write high quality, legally compliant EHC plans, and to share good practice. The training resources from these workshops will be published shortly.

    There are a number of places where local authorities can find guidance about EHC plans. This includes the statutory SEND Code of Practice, which clearly sets out what must be included in a plan, and provides detailed guidance on the process that must be followed to produce one. There are also examples of good quality EHC plans produced by the SEND Pathfinder local authorities.

    The review of EHC plans carried out in 2014 looked specifically at EHC plan templates.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what comparative assessment she has made of recent trends in domestic fires caused by (a) an electrical source of ignition and (b) other reasons for domestic fires.

    Mike Penning

    Between 1st April 2010 and 31st March 2015 there were over 36,000 accidental dwelling fires in England where the source of ignition was “Electrical Distribution” or “Other Electrical appliances”. Over the same period, there were 149,000 accidental dwelling fires in England.

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people from other EU member states have received each type (a) of working aged and (b) in-work benefit in each of the last 10 years; and what the total cost to the public purse was of those people claiming each of those benefits in each of those years.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what sentences were handed down to people convicted of each type of terrorist offence in the last year for which information is held.

    Mr John Hayes

    The attached table provides data on the sentences received by persons convicted of terrorism-related offences in the year ending December 2015, broken down by the primary offence for which they were convicted.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been paid in fines by Govia Thamelink Railway to his Department to compensate for poor performance in each of the last three years.

    Claire Perry

    Govia Thameslink Railway’s (GTR’s) provision of services for the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise only began on 14 September 2014, with Southern services included from 26 July 2015.

    There is an incentive/penalty regime in place and this has seen just over £2 million levied against GTR in respect of their Cancellation and Short-Formation performance benchmarks.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what budget has been allocated under the Public Duty Cost Allowance for civil servants after leaving office.

    Ben Gummer

    The Public Duties Cost Allowance is to assist former Prime Ministers with the costs of continuing to fulfil duties associated with their previous position in public life. A copy of the policy and guidance on the allowance is in the Library of the House. The costs are a reimbursement of incurred expenses for necessary office costs and secretarial costs arising from their special position in public life. The allowance is not paid to support private or parliamentary duties. Civil servants are not entitled to claim this allowance.

    Current recipients of the allowance are published in the Cabinet Office Annual Reports and Accounts. Previous recipients have included Lady Thatcher; the current recipients who are former Prime Ministers are Sir John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. I also refer the Hon. Member to my answers to him of 9 September 2016 to (UIN 44045, 44048, 44049, 44053, 44054, 44055, 44056).

    The Public Duties Cost Allowance rate is currently set at a limit of £115,000 per annum. When originally introduced, the Government stated that it would be the equivalent in amount to the Parliamentary Office Costs Allowance. I would note that that allowance is now known as the Parliamentary Staffing Allowance, determined by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and that is currently set at the rate of £148,500 per annum.”

  • Baroness Parminter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Parminter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2016-10-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made, and when they plan to implement their commitment in the 2014 New York Declaration on Forests to work on new procurement policies to limit the consumption of commodities associated with deforestation.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Joint Statement on REDD+ by the United Kingdom, Germany and Norway made at the United Nations Climate Summit on 23 September 2014 in support of the New York Declaration on Forests contains a commitment that:

    “We will work with other consumer countries to promote national commitments that encourage deforestation-free supply chains, including through public procurement policies to sustainably source commodities such as palm oil, soy, beef and timber“.

    The Government Buying Standard for food and catering was amended in October 2012 to include a new requirement to procure palm oil, palm kernel oil and derivatives from sustainable sources. All food and catering products bought by central Government must meet these sustainability requirements.

    The Government’s Timber Procurement Policy also requires central Government Departments, Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies to procure timber and timber products that are both legal and sustainable.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect that the decision of the Quality Contract Scheme board on the Quality Contract proposed to be run by Nexus for Tyne and Wear will have on city devolution deals.

    Andrew Jones

    The Quality Contract Scheme Board’s report concerns an individual case brought under existing legislation. It is not about the bus franchising powers which will be included in the Buses Bill.

    The Government is determined that local transport authorities with ambitious plans to grow and develop should be given the powers they need, and we will legislate through the Buses Bill to deliver on our devolution commitments.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 92 of the consultation document entitled, Tackling Exploitation in the Labour Market, (a) how many prosecutions and (b) what penalties have been applied for each of the existing offences that are in the remit of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement.

    Karen Bradley

    The list of offences that will be in the remit of the Labour Market Enforcement Director are subject to public consultation. The following figures are available for prosecutions and penalties for offences that are being considered for inclusion in the Director’s remit.

    There have been nine prosecutions relating to National Minimum Wage underpayment since the first prosecution took place in 2007. Criminal prosecution is reserved for the most serious cases. Penalties totalling over £3.9 million has been issued.

    There were three prosecutions (one failed) for suspected breaches of Employment Agencies Standards (EAS) Regulations in 2013-14. Fines totalling £5,200 were issued and total compensation and costs awarded to workers was £6,041. Information on prosecutions prior to 2013/14 can be found in EAS Annual Reports online.

    During 2013/14 and 2014/15, there were six and nine prosecutions respectively for offences contained within the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004. Penalties included fines and custodial sentences for these and other non labour market offences.

    The Modern Slavery Act offences, which could fall within the remit of the Director, came into force on 31st July 2015. Data is not yet available for those offences.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the numbers of sham (a) marriages and (b) civil partnerships since March 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    Since the marriage referral scheme commenced on 2nd March 2015, the number of marriages considered to be a sham has reduced slightly although these numbers are too small to indicate any trend.

    Referrals under Section 24 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and allegations have remained stable since March.

    From the data extract it is not possible to determine if a notification under the scheme relates to a Civil Partnership or a Marriage as the referrals are identical.